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  • Global Warming News Digest from PennFuture

    Author: trilochankaur

    Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 3:50 am



    Every week, Penn Future sends you a sampling of the week's global warming news and announcements from around the state, around the country and around the world. If you have a news item you would like to see included in this digest, send it to Sharon Pillar at pillar (AT) pennfuture (DOT) org. Thanks for reading, and thank you for your concern for our environment.

    This week we are presenting you with an abbreviated digest, because we are busy preparing for our Global Warming Conference in Pittsburgh on March 31! But we wanted to give you the global warming headlines and links to important information to keep you informed.


    Join PennFuture: Global Warming Conference in Pittsburgh

    Global Warming 2007: It's Time for Action
    Saturday, March 31, 2007 from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM
    Mercy Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA

    Learn the latest on legislation, policies, and global warming science.
    Discuss what Pennsylvania can (and is) doing to slow global warming.
    Network with citizens taking action on global warming.
    Hear experts and policymakers, including:
    United States Senator Bob Casey, Jr.
    Angela Anderson, Director, Clear the Air
    Jeanne Dworetzky, Exec. Director, Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority
    Dr. Brenda Ekwurzel, Climate Scientist, Union of Concerned Scientists
    John Hanger, President and CEO of Citizens for Pennsylvania' s Future
    Sister M. Christopher Moore, Felician Sisters of Pennsylvania
    Alan Traugott, Green Building Alliance
    State Representative Jake Wheatley, Jr. (District 19)
    and other experts in global warming and clean energy policy.

    Registration is free, but required, with light breakfast and lunch included.

    RSVP today by calling PennFuture at 717-214-7920/ toll free in PA 800-321-7775 or by using our online form (https://www. pennfuture. org/form_ secure.aspx? form_name= GlobalWarming)



    Environmental News Service: Arctic Sea Ice Melt May Set Off Climate Change Cascade: http://www.ens- newswire. com/ens/mar2007/ 2007-03-19- 06.asp


    Environmental News Service: Antarctic Melting May Be Speeding Up, Scientists Say
    http://www.enn. com/today. html?id=12444


    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: New System Tracks Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide: http://www.noaanews .noaa.gov/ stories2007/ s2823.htm


    The New York Times: Gore Warns Congress of `Planetary Emergency':
    http://www.nytimes. com/2007/ 03/21/washington /21cnd-gore. html?_r=1&oref=slogin
    Here are also links to video of Mr. Gore's testimony: http://www.c- span.org/ VideoArchives. asp?z1=&PopupMenu_Name= Science/ or http://www.c- span.org/ homepage. asp




    American Public Transportation Association: Americans Take More Than 10 Billion Trips on Public Transportation for the First Time in Almost Fifty Years: http://www.apta. com/media/ releases/ 070312_ten_ billion.cfm


    Guardian Unlimited: Eco Group Warns of Freshwater Crisis: http://environment. guardian. co.uk/climatecha nge/story/ 0,,2038439, 00.html


    The Independent: World's Most Important Crops Hit by Global Warming Effects: http://news. independent. co.uk/environmen t/climate_ change/article23 71569.ece


    The New York Times: Material Shows Weakening of Climate Reports: http://www.nytimes. com/2007/ 03/20/washington /20climate. html?hp


    Reuters: Ex-CIA Chief Says U.S. Must Act On Climate
    http://today. reuters.com/ news/articlenews .aspx?type= topNews&storyid=2007- 03-19T130641Z_ 01_L19194162_ RTRUKOC_0_ US-CLIMATE- TRILATERAL. xml&src=rss


    Environmental News Network: Big Investors Urge U.S. To Slash CO2 Emissions:
    http://www.enn. com/today. html?id=12422&ref=rss



    Center for Environmental Justice: A Large Majority of Americans are Worried About Global Warming: http://cejnewsviews .blogspot. com/2007/ 03/large- majority- of-americans- are-worried. html




    Help PennFuture fight global warming by becoming a member! To learn more about the benefits of membership and to donate online, go to: https://www. pennfuture. org/donation_ gp.aspx
    Sat Mar 24, 2007 3:50 am

  • News for 23/03/07

    Author: trilochankaur

    Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 4:54 pm



    Here are the currently Gardening Care News of March 23.

    •Container gardening is all about thrillers, fillers, spillers
    •Growing you own herbs
    •Gardeners go to class

    To see other news, please visit here
    Fri Mar 23, 2007 4:54 pm

  • Science turns sun, surf into green energy

    Author: trilochankaur

    Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 4:40 pm



    A REVOLUTIONARY technology that uses sunlight and sea water to produce an unlimited supply of clean, hydrogen fuel could be developed within a decade, Sydney researchers say.

    Leigh Sheppard, of the University of NSW, estimated that 1.6 million of the solar devices, installed on rooftops, would be able to produce enough hydrogen gas to supply Australia's entire energy needs. While other energy options under discussion, such as nuclear power, produce harmful wastes, the only by-products of this solar hydrogen technology would be oxygen and fresh water, Dr Sheppard said.

    "It is the cleanest, greenest energy option for a sustainable economy."

    Read the full story here.
    Thu Mar 22, 2007 4:40 pm

  • 184 - Earth's Trees News

    Author: trilochankaur

    Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:40 pm



    Today for you 43 news items about Earth’s trees. Location, number and subject listed below. Condensed / abbreviated article is listed further below.

    Can be viewed on the web at http://www.livejournal.com/users/olyecology or
    by sending a blank email message to earthtreenews-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

    --British Columbia: 1) Logging beetle killed pine ruins land’s hydrology,
    --Washington: 2) Weyco action, 3) Another Weyco action, 4) budget cuts hit fed refuges,
    --Oregon: 5) restoring prairie and oak, 6) Reflections on forest activists, 7) Closed doors, Cool Owl wins loggers lose,
    --California: 9) 75 get naked to save oaks, 10) High court backs enviros in Eldorado, 11) Apple branch thieves sued for $2 million,
    --Montana: 12) Save Swan River State Forest,
    --Missouri: 13) Escanaba city forest will be logged, 14) Logger trainings for old timers,
    --Arkansas: 15) LIDAR-ing the Ozark National Forest, 16) heritage of funky trees,
    --North Carolina: 17) Flowering ephemerals and the logging economy
    --South Carolina: 1Cool losing 200 acres of forest per day, 19) Redbay ambrosia beetle,
    --USA: 20) Reckless lending and reckless logging, 21) Teak-wood salvage,
    --Canada: 22) Protect Ontario’s intact boreal for the climate, 23) Boreal info,
    --North America: 24) “Thrillcraft” book
    --UK: 25) Logging makes a new view of Sussex Lunatic Asylum, 26) Cutting with no permit, 27) Save historic Elms, 2Cool Scottish forest industry,
    --Germany: 29) Biodiversity, alongside climate change, at the top of G8 agenda
    --Africa: 30) 9% of all that remains lost in only 15 years?
    --South America: 31) Lapacho tree bark can heal eye tumors
    --Guyana: 32) Akawini Village gets swindled by loggers, 33) Ancient Human Fires,
    --Brazil: 34) Environmental geographer who specializes in tropical deforestation
    --Pakistan: 35) Massive cutting of trees by city government
    --Bangladesh 36) Bombing range = loss of 2 villages, more than 500 acres of Sal forest
    --Brunei: 37) More deception about being a good role model in forestry
    --Borneo: 3Cool Save the Sebangau peat swamp forest,
    --Indonesia: 39) Just lie then up the cut, 40) forked tongue leadership, 41) World record,
    --Australia: 42) Rayonier-Forest Enterprises log deal is reviewed
    --World-wide: 43) Acid Rain

    Read the full story here.
    Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:40 pm

  • Polluted Sutlej water poses threat to life, crops

    Author: trilochankaur

    Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 7:07 pm



    Due to contamination of Sutlej waters with industrial pollutants from Ludhiana and sewerage from several cities, people in four southern districts of Punjab and the adjoining Rajasthan are facing not only serious health hazard but also stand to lose fertile soil to the accumulation of industrial chemicals in the soil.

    Read the full story here.
    Tue Mar 20, 2007 7:07 pm

  • Climate change shifts sheep shape

    Author: trilochankaur

    Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 7:04 pm



    Climate change could have an impact on animal evolution and ecology, scientists believe.

    A 20-year study of Scottish sheep found weather patterns were driving changes in body shape and population size.

    Harsh winters led to larger sheep, which brought about changes in population size, yet in milder winters this effect was not seen. The team says the study, published in the journal Science, is the first to connect these different factors.

    Read the full story here.
    Tue Mar 20, 2007 7:04 pm

  • Understanding the art of gardening with God

    Author: trilochankaur

    Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 5:30 am



    Our first robin arrived a few days ago, announcing the coming of spring, the season that reminds us of the beauty of flowers and the satisfaction of having a part in causing the ground to produce garden grown food that beats the best we can buy.

    Read the full article here.
    Tue Mar 20, 2007 5:30 am

  • Draine: Dig into the fine art of container gardening

    Author: trilochankaur

    Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 5:26 am



    For many people, the best answer to “How do I garden on rocks?” or “What can I grow on the deck?” is to learn the fine art of container vegetable gardening.

    Read the full story here.
    Tue Mar 20, 2007 5:26 am

  • Creating a Raised Bed

    Author: trilochankaur

    Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 5:25 am



    If your current planting goals involve plants that require good water drainage, I am sure you know how frustrating it is to have a yard that just won’t cooperate. Some plants can handle the excess water that comes about from being in an area that doesn’t drain properly. In fact, it might just cause them to bloom more lushly. However, other plants don’t cope as well, and it will cause them to die a gruesome, bloated death. You should always find out about the drainage required for every plant you buy, and make sure that it won’t conflict with any of the areas you are considering planting it in.

    Read the full story here.
    Tue Mar 20, 2007 5:25 am

  • Valencia versus Global warming

    Author: trilochankaur

    Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 5:24 am



    Valencia is the present seat of the America's Cup, finishes sending a proposal to fight global warming.

    The product has been baptized like "zumosoil", basically consists of using part of the famous oranges of Valencia, for the distillation of bioetanol. Valencia, the Valencian Community, is one of the famous zones more in the production of oranges.

    Read the full story here
    Tue Mar 20, 2007 5:24 am

  • 183 - Earth Tree News

    Author: trilochankaur

    Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 5:25 am



    Today for you 41 news items about Earth’s trees. Location, number and subject listed below. Condensed / abbreviated article is listed further below.

    Can be viewed on the web at http://www.livejournal.com/users/olyecology or
    by sending a blank email message to earthtreenews-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

    --Alaska: 1) Pellet plant uses dead trees
    --British Columbia: 2) Save forest photos, 3) Thrillcraft, 4) Timber towns to ghost towns,
    --Washington: 5)Chuckanut and Blanchard mountains, 6) Land trust land turned into a mine? 7) Grassy Narrows First Nation’s resist Weyco,
    --Oregon: Cool Delist Murrelet? 9) illegal lumber, 10) land use planning, 11) Save Rogue,
    --California: 12) Citizens for Greenspace, 13) 1 millionth dead tree cut down,
    --Arizona: 14) 9th circuit protects San Francisco Peaks from sewer snow
    --Canada: 15) logging practices in the boreal, 16) Matawa First Nation blockade,
    --UK: 17) Making red squirrel habitat
    --Poland: 1Cool Europe's last great wilderness
    --Bulgaria: 19) Protest takes it to the streets
    --Israel: 20) predator wasps arrive to save non-native trees
    --Ghana: 21) All nine forest reserves depleted
    --Ethiopia: 22) Three pulp mills to use 363,000 hectares of lease free land
    --South America: 23) Evidence of seasonality, 24) Analysis of new deforestation data,
    --Jamaica: 25) Alcoa threatens last wild forest
    --Brazil: 26) Ecoagents educating aboriginal tribes about their rights
    --Peru: 27) Deforestation causes drought
    --China: 2Cool Save the Giant Panda
    --Thailand: 29) State of emergency caused by forest fires
    --Vietnam: 30) New pulp mill to use 400,000 hectatres
    --Sarawak: 31) Penan blockade is gone
    --Indonesia: 32) Save Lorentz National Park, 33) Palm oil, 34) Loggers to be jailed,
    --Borneo: 35) Origins of Mongabay.com. 36) New species of leopard discovered,
    --Malaysia: 37) Malaysian Timber Certification Council, 3Cool Forest cover rates,
    --Australia: 39) Big log supply deal
    --World-wide: 40) Google mapping adds World Wildlife Fund, 41) Deforestation rates,


    Alaska:

    1) The pellet plant is still being designed, but in general, Hughes will selectively harvest the dead trees, slice them into 40-foot logs and truck them back to the Old Gates mill just off the Sterling Highway. Then, the trees are ground into dust and rolled into the dense pellets. Mackay said the plant runs on excess biomass energy from the forest. Two plants will be in operation, one for producing the power, and one plant for producing the pellets. And if neighbors can handle the emissions of steam, there shouldn’t be any pollution complaints. Activity onsite will pick up once the plant is designed and approved. Once it gets rolling, the company may cherry pick timber throughout Alaska for the next 50 to 100 years. Once Hughes starts producing pellets, the land will become improved in accordance to defensible space because the dead, combustible trees will be replaced with a new generation of timber. Hughes will be doing the work that the state, Kenai Peninsula Borough and private entities are already paying to do in forests that stretch from Nikiski to Anchor Point. The state has identified priorities including salvaging useable trees and reducing fire hazards by removing combustible fuel. Third, the state is interested in renovating those tree stands — a priority Hughes Pellets shares. http://www.homertribune.com/article.php?aid=1374


    British Columbia:

    2) If you live in Victoria, Vancouver, or Vancouver Island, we need YOU on Sat. Mar.24 at this pivotal rally for Vancouver Island's vanishing old-growth forests and milling jobs - ENOUGH is ENOUGH! Please EMAIL US BACK ON HOW MANY OF YOU ARE COMING so we can get a sense of our numbers (our goal is to have 500 people) We have a first class line-up of speakers (see below), a drumming band for the march, and we'll make a fantastic "aerial art" image with hundreds of people sitting in formation in the shape of an old-growth tree in front of the Legislature to creatively send a message to the BC government. WE REALLY NEED HELP phoning thousands of supporters, putting up posters, and handing out our new educational newsletter. Please email us if you can spare 1 hour or more, at wc2vic@island.net See our previous aerial art images at: http://www.wildernesscommitteevictoria.org/gallery.php


    3) "We are strengthening government's ability to deal with people who damage our forest or range resources," said Coleman. "This should serve as notice that we will not tolerate the actions of those who wilfully run machines through sensitive areas." Under new provisions of the Forest and Range Practices Act, people causing damage that adversely affects an ecosystem, such as driving four-wheel drive vehicles in wetlands, or riding ATVs irresponsibly in alpine terrain or range lands, will face penalties of up to $100,000. Cases prosecuted in the criminal courts carry maximum fines of $100,000, up to one year in jail, or both. Bill 18 also contains provisions to other statutes, including the Forest Act, Wildfire Act, Range Act and Forestry Revitalization Act to: 1) enable local governments to reduce the threat of interface wildfires to their communities through changes to the Forestry Licence to Cut; 2) streamline government's ability to increase the volume and area of a First Nation tenure, and to protect potential Aboriginal rights and title; 3) provide woodlot operators with greater operational flexibility to improve their economic stability; and 4) make changes to provisions governing cutting permits to facilitate the prompt harvesting of mountain pine beetle-attacked timber. http://www.gov.bc.ca.



    4) Five British Columbia communities top the list of mid-size urban centres with the fastest-shrinking populations in the country, reflecting a struggling forestry sector and regional economies that rise and fall with timber prices. "There's no surprise in the list, given the difficulties in the northwest part of the province," Jock Finlayson, executive vice-president of the Business Council of British Columbia, said yesterday. "It's really been the last area to experience any sort of rebound since the economy of B.C. as a whole began to move into an upswing phase in 2002." It's harder to explain population declines in the Interior cities of Quesnel and Williams Lake, Mr. Finlayson and others said, as that region is experiencing a burst of activity related to harvesting pine-beetle-killed wood before it rots and warps, losing any economic value. In Quesnel, housing prices are healthy, retail performance is strong and "we're in the midst of a mini-boom because of the pine beetle," said Jim Savage, executive director of Quesnel Community and Economic Development Corp. The northwest communities of Kitimat, Prince Rupert and Terrace (ranked 1, 2 and 4) are joined by the Interior towns of Quesnel and Williams Lake (ranked 3 and 5) on the list of centres with the fastest population decline since 2001. Cities in New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and Ontario round out the fastest-shrinking 10. The northern B.C. city of Prince George, with a decline of 2.1 per cent over five years, is at No. 16. In Kitimat, the population declined by 12.6 per cent, slipping below the 10,000 mark. The city has seen several major businesses close or scale back operations in recent years. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070314.CENSUSSHRINK14/TPStory/National

    Washington:

    5) The satellite pictures contain a single sizable splotch of green between Seattle and Vancouver. That's Chuckanut and Blanchard mountains, south of Bellingham, one place where the Cascades extend to salt water. Aided by a public "strategies group," the state Department of Natural Resources has sought to develop "consensus management" plans for 4,800 acres of state-owned lands on Blanchard Mountain. In seeking peace, however, the DNR has set off a nasty brawl among environmental activists in northwest Washington. The landscape is worth scrapping over. A dream of the Bellingham area has been to protect Blanchard Mountain and link up its forests with Larrabee State Park and city and county parklands on Chuckanut Mountain. "We have one DNR natural resource conservation area in Whatcom County totaling just 137 acres. It's nothing nearly as extensive as the Issaquah Alps," said Ken Wilcox, a conservation activist and trail planner. In King and Snohomish counties, the DNR has set aside 42,000 acres as conservation areas, including popular trails on Tiger Mountain, Rattlesnake Mountain and Mount Si. One problem: Blanchard Mountain is in Skagit County. The 4,800 acres are state trust lands, expected to provide timber production and dollars for local schools and services. As the DNR puts it in old-time logger jargon, Blanchard Mountain is a "working forest." The "strategies group" produced a controversial compromise. It would create a 1,600-acre "core zone" emphasizing wildlife, vistas and non-motorized recreation. But some logging -- and construction of temporary logging roads -- would be allowed. Forests outside the core would be "harvested" in line with DNR statewide standards. The plan vaguely links the future of state-owned Blanchard Mountain to pending decisions on what logging to allow on nearby Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest lands. The cry of "sellout" has come from the venerable North Cascades Conservation Council. But Skagit County photographer-environmentalist Lee Mann sympathizes with the agreement. "It gets our nose in the tent," he said. "If the DNR does something bad, we can immediately call out to everyone from hang gliders to horsemen. 'Help!' A veteran of the 1960s battle to create North Cascades National Park, Mann now sees threats greater than continued timber cutting. "I fear us getting inundated with people more than I fear the logging industry," he said. Big, showy and often unsightly homes are spreading up privately owned slopes of Chuckanut and Blanchard mountains. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/connelly/307413_joel14.html


    6) The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced it plans to issue a lease for 217 acres of land critical to the project, proposed by Spokane-based Idaho General Mines. But the agency promised not to allow any work there until further studies show it could be done without harming the surrounding environment. At this point, "we're not analyzing whether a mine should be there or not," said BLM spokesman Michael Campbell. Although the land is part of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, the BLM has authority over mining on federal lands. Environmentalists quickly condemned the agency's decision, saying a mine simply doesn't belong there. The site is near a national monument, as well as the source of the Green River, which eventually flows into the Cowlitz River. The land originally was bought by the environmental group Trust for Public Land, then turned over to the Forest Service. "This is just a proposal that shouldn't even get off the ground," said Ryan Hunter, program director for the environmental group Gifford Pinchot Task Force. "The fact that the federal government is giving this the time of day .. is really frightening." Mine-company officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday. In a past interview, a company executive said it would use modern, environmentally friendly mining methods, and that the proposal was being unfairly prejudged by some. The company is looking at possibly mining for copper, gold, molybdenum and silver. In addition to the 217 acres, the BLM postponed a decision about roughly 700 nearby acres, saying it would first look at the company's mining plans. People now have 30 days to comment on the proposed lease. They can write to U.S. Department of the Interior; Bureau of Land Management; Oregon State Office; P.O. Box 2965; Portland, OR 97208. To view the lease proposal, go to www.blm.gov/or/index.php http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003618833_mine15m.html


    7) After traveling 3,000 miles from northern Ontario, Grassy Narrows First Nation community members have reached Seattle. Their mission? To demand that logging giant Weyerhaeuser work to stop the clear-cutting in Grassy's ancestral homeland. On Monday morning, Grassy community members Warren Ashopenace, Gloria Kejick, and Maria Swain met face-to-face with top Weyerhaeuser executives. They shared stories of how the unauthorized logging on their territory has disrupted their ability to trap animals and collect medicinal herbs. They spoke of the wild berries and streams poisoned by herbicides used in logging operations. The Weyerhaeuser executives were rendered speechless as these folks spoke truth to power. Yet, Weyerhaeuser still has not committed to help stop the logging. That's why Grassy Narrows and RAN are increasing the pressure on Weyerhaeuser, and we need your help. Please call CEO Steve Rogel and demand an "exit strategy" from Grassy Narrows. RAN and the Grassy community members remain busy in the Seattle area. Today, we'll be at the Built Green conference in Everett, Wash., where Weyerhaeuser subsidiary Quadrant Homes is receiving an award. Recent research conducted by RAN documents that Quadrant homes are constructed with Weyerhaeuser building materials made from wood clear-cut and taken without consent from Grassy Narrows. To expose the hypocrisy of Quadrant's award, we'll dress as homeless caribou and wander around tree stumps in front of the conference. http://ga3.org/campaign/roadtoseattle_call


    Oregon:

    Cool Marbled Murrelets -- a robin-sized seabird that lays eggs in old growth woods -- is at risk of extinction in the lower 48, but is it special enough to protect? The American Forest Resource Council, an Oregon-based non-profit representing timber companies, filed suit in federal court Wednesday to undo federal protections for the vanishing birds. The murrelet population has shrunk to about 24,400 birds in Washington, Oregon and California, where they were deemed "threatened" by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1992. In the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., the timber group is arguing that the birds are not different enough from populations in Canada and Alaska to merit protection under the Endangered Species Act. The black-and-white, rubber ducky-shaped birds feed on small fish and microscopic sea life. They nest in old-growth woods, particularly mossy trees or sometimes on the ground. In August 2004, the Fish and Wildlife Service issued its conclusions from the review. "The threat situation has not changed such that the murrelet (distinct population segment) is no longer likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range," the scientists stated. They noted, however, that the birds did not qualify as unique from their Alaskan relations, and called for a range-wide review of their status. That review has not been done, though a study of the birds in Alaska and Canada was completed this year. But in September 2004, the Bush administration recommended that the birds be cut from the endangered species list. West's group wants the government to follow through on that advice. With the murrelet on the list, logging is restricted and additional hoops are required to gain permission to cut down trees where it is allowed. "It's the bureaucracy and waste of money that's the real issue here," West said. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/307500_murrelet15.html

    9) It could be your new hardwood floor or coffee table, with a rich mahogany hue. While the wood may look good, there is a strong chance it came from timber harvested illegally in places such as Honduras, Indonesia or Peru, labor and environmental groups say. Now some lawmakers want to crack down on illegal logging around the world. Led by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., the group is seeking support for a bill to ban U.S. imports of wood products derived from illegally harvested timber. Much like the movie "Blood Diamond," which portrays diamonds as fueling a brutal civil war in West Africa, lawmakers hope to make U.S. consumers more aware of where their new bedroom dresser or hardwood floor comes from. "Illegal logging is a problem that crosses national boundaries to affect communities, companies and ecosystems alike," Blumenauer said. As much as 30 percent of U.S. hardwood imports are from suspicious or illegal sources, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission. Much of the wood is sent to China, where it is processed at low cost and then exported to the United States and other countries. Illegal logging costs U.S. companies as much as $1 billion a year in lost exports and reduced prices for timber products, according to the American Forest and Paper Association, a trade group that represents the wood products industry. "I can't stress enough how pervasive this problem is," Blumenauer said at a Capitol news conference Tuesday. "It's destabilizing the environment, destabilizing trade opportunities and literally robbing national governments" of millions of dollars in lost taxes. http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/16895962.htm

    10) Statewide land use planning came in response to the steady loss of farm and forest lands - particularly in the Willamette Valley, which lost nearly 1 million acres of farm land between 1950 and 1974. That erosion needed to be arrested if Oregon hoped to have agriculture and timber industries in the future. Gov. Tom McCall, the Legislature, the Oregon Farm Bureau and the Oregon Forest Industries Council supported the landmark 1973 legislation that zoned 15.6 million acres for farm use and 7.9 million acres for forest use. The restrictions have had the desired effect: Between 1974 and 2002, farm acreage in the Willamette Valley actually increased slightly, and agriculture and forestry remain vital components of the state's economy. Also in 1973, the Legislature approved Senate Bill 101 to provide property tax breaks for the newly zoned farm and forest lands. The change was required as a matter of fairness - land that could no longer be developed for residential or commercial purposes should no longer be taxed on the basis of that potential. It was a deliberate attempt to compensate landowners for the burden of zoning. Then-Sen. Vic Atiyeh, who carried SB 101 and later became governor, called the bill "goodies for being in a farm zone." The American Land Institute calculates that the cumulative value of tax reductions on rural land between 1974 and 2004 is nearly $4.9 billion. Those taxes were largely shifted to properties in urban areas. Richmond calls it the largest single public investment in Oregon history - Interstate 5 cost less than half as much. The benefits of the tax reductions are shared by a relatively small number of rural land owners, while the costs are borne by large numbers of people in urban areas. As a consequence, between 1974 and 2002 farm land values in the Willamette Valley rose by 480 percent, faster than the rate of inflation. At the same time, farmers and foresters were protected against the development of adjacent lands that would result in limits on agricultural or timber practices. But now the bargain is in danger of breaking down as owners of rural land demand compensation or waivers of zoning rules under Measure 37. Local governments can't afford to compensate landowners, so waivers are the usual response to Measure 37 claims. Perhaps the response would be different if compensation took into account the property tax benefits that have accompanied zoning. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2007/03/13/ed.edit.landvalue.0313.p1.php?section=opinion

    11) The campaign to protect the Wild Rogue area is gaining momentum! Already, a coalition of eight local and national conservation groups, including Oregon Wild, has formed to save the Wild Rogue. And last week, the Eugene Register Guard printed an editorial calling for new Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers in the Wild Rogue. To read the editorial:http://www.registerguard.com/news/2007/03/08/ed.edit.rogue.phn.0308.p1.php?section=opi
    nion The Wild Rogue area is one of Oregon's most pristine, scenic, and rugged landscapes. Located in southern Oregon and nestled in the Siskiyou Mountain Range, the Wild Rogue area is home to the famous Rogue River, the Zane Grey Roadless Area, and a diversity of fish and wildlife, including bald eagles and salmon. Oregon Wild and our coalition partners are calling for approximately 60,000 acres of new Wilderness areas and 100 miles of new Wild and Scenic Rivers. Increased protection would permanently protect this ecologically rich area, which has one of Oregon's most important fisheries and generates millions of dollars from tourism. To view pictures of the Wild Rogue and a map of the proposed Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers: http://www.savethewildrogue.info
    California:

    12) Citizens for Greenspace is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to an improved environment through community green-space projects and education, according Mary Stephan, president. Founded in 1988 in Carmel, the group's projects have resulted in the planting of over 4,500 trees in Carmel's parks and along our streets, the distribution of over 18,000 tree seedlings to grade-school students for our annual Arbor Day celebration, and the creation of five public gardens and prairies. The group's newest project has been the creation of a Woodland Garden in the new Central Park in Carmel. The group's budget for this garden is $35,000. With over 1,300 perennials, numerous trees and shrubs, and 1,000 daffodil bulbs planted in the fall of 2006, the garden promises to be spectacular in time for its dedication on April 22. Funding for the group's community projects comes from the perennial plant sale, the Greenspace Garden Faire, held each year in May at the Gazebo at Carmel City Hall. http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070312/LOCAL010106/703120490/1015/LOCAL01

    13) With a crackling thunder, local officials today symbolically felled the 1 millionth dead tree in the San Bernardino Mountains and shifted focus to thinning projects to help make area forests healthy. The tree came down in Sky Forest just east of Lake Arrowhead, near where firefighters stopped the spread of the Old fire in 2003. Thanks to $70 million in federal aid, work crews have removed most of the large stands of dead and dying trees left stricken by years or drought and a bark beetle infestation. Now, the county and individual property owners must work to remove live trees and vegetation, said Peter Brierty, San Bernardino County's assistant fire chief. "A thin forest is a healthy forest and a thin forest is a fire-resistant forest," Brierty said today at a news conference in Sky Forest. http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_webtree.25fe8d3.html
    Arizona:

    14) Today, the San Francisco 9th Circuit Court of Appeals delivered justice to the sacred San Francisco Peaks and the Southwest tribes that consider it sacred by stopping the development of the Arizona Snowbowl Resort and Coconino National Forest Service’s proposed artificial snowmaking plan. Sierra Club, various tribes and other appellants argued successfully that using treated sewage to make artificial snow would violate the environmental justice of the tribal communities and would pollute the land, air and water.
    “This is a national wake up call for those that will try to desecrate sacred mountains like the San Francisco Peaks,” said Robert Tohe, Environmental Justice Organizer for the Sierra Club in Flagstaff, Arizona. “We will not allow our voices to be ignored.” The San Francisco Peaks, north of Flagstaff, Arizona, are sacred to13 tribes, and are important spiritual and geographic boundaries. “I am really thankful and deeply appreciate the 9th circuit court’s decision,” said Bucky Preston, one of the Hopi plaintiffs. “Some of the
    judges in the courts must have a good heart and looked deeply into themselves to realize that the Peaks are so sacred to us and they understood our beliefs.” This overruling of a district court decision is one of the most important in recent years under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. In addition to finding that the plan would have desecrated this sacred area, the court decided that the U.S. Forest Service failed to fully disclose the risks posed by human ingestion of artificial snow. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/03/13/national/a103833D57.DTL

    Canada:

    15) A report that suggests Ontario's logging practices in the boreal forest are contributing to climate change is ``laughable,'' according to Minister of Natural Resources David Ramsay. In a report released Tuesday, Vancouver-based ForestEthics says continued logging of the intact boreal forest is causing more carbon dioxide to enter the atmosphere and escalates climate change. Ramsay says that doesn't make any sense. He says only two per cent of trees in northern Ontario are logged each year, an area that covers nearly 50-million hectares. Ramsay went on to say, the few trucks and harvesters in the bush are not an issue. Ontario's boreal forest region covers 49.9 million hectares andextends from the northern limits of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence forest to the Hudson Bay Lowlands. The ForestEthics report, entitled ``Robbing the Carbon Bank:Global Warming and Ontario's Forests,'' said protecting boreal forests ``must be a key component of any government climate plan.'' The group said the vast forest stores billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide. Not only does logging release much of the carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, current harvesting practices reduce the forest's ability to retain it, the report said. http://www.tbsource.com/localnews/index.asp?cid=93512

    16) Matawa First Nation wants to have their rights in the Kenogami Forest protected and have filed legal action in order to do so. The first nation has commenced legal proceedings through a judicial review application. It seeks to set aside the transfer of the Sustainable Forest License in the Kenogami forest, from Neenah Paper to Buchanan-owned Terrace Bay Pulp. Matawa First Nation is claiming they have not been properly consulted about the transfer. They also feel that the MNR has not met requirements for including the first nation in the planning process, or done enough to ensure they receive proper benefits from the harvesting of woodlands. The group has reserves either in or adjacent to the Kenogami Forest. They have filed their legal challenge against Minister of Natural Resources David Ramsay, the director of industry relations for the ministry, Terrace Bay Pulp and Neenah Paper. http://www.tbsource.com/Localnews/index.asp?cid=93350

    UK:

    17) In the early 1800s, red squirrels were found throughout England and were certainly widespread in Yorkshire. However, due to reasons not exactly understood, but probably associated with habitat loss and disease, populations began to decline. This was exacerbated by the introduction of the larger, non-native grey squirrel from North America from 1876. By 1906 the greys had arrived in Yorkshire and the fate of the county's red squirrels was ostensibly sealed. Fortunately, pockets of red populations managed to survive in Cumbria, the North East and Merseyside – but why after decades in exile did the reds decide to venture back into Yorkshire? The answer, it seems, is thanks to the inadvertent intervention of the Kemps. Forty or so years ago when they first moved to the remote settlement of Snaizeholme, there was plenty of open grazing suitable for sheep and cattle, but little wildlife habitat. Hugh and Jane decided to establish a plantation of spruce, fir and Scots pine on several acres of land to sell as Christmas trees. The couple had begun an arboreal version of a clear-out and a lot of trees, particularly a variety known as sitka spruce, were felled so just a few clumps of forestry were left standing. These included a two-acre block of sitka close to the Kemps' house which they thought would provide a good dormitory for roe deer. It was a great surprise, therefore, when a neighbour told them she had seen a red squirrel hopping out of the plantation. Soon the Kemps were seeing reds themselves. http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=2115840§ionid=105

    Poland:

    1Cool It's one of Europe's last great wildernesses. But now economic progress threatens the primeval forest of Poland's Rospuda valley. Local opinion is bitterly divided. On one side of the argument there are eagles, wolves and orchids; on the other side there are endless heavy lorries and burgeoning economic growth. Welcome to Europe's new environmental battleground. The conflict is coming to a head for the first time in a pristine valley in north-east Poland, crammed with spectacular wildlife, which has been earmarked as the route for a badly-needed motorway to the Baltic states. The clash of priorities has bitterly divided public opinion in Poland itself and has now set the country on collision course with the European Union. Yet the struggle to save the Rospuda valley is only the first of many conflicts likely to arise between economic development in the new EU member nations of central and eastern Europe, and their wildlife heritage. Species which have long been rare or extinct in western European countries, such as lynx, elk, wolf and beaver, along with scores of uncommon bird species, from eagles to corncrakes, still have substantial populations in the 10 central and eastern European nations which have recently joined the EU. In Poland and the other member states which joined in 2004 (the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and the three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), as well as in Bulgaria and Romania, which joined this year, two remarkable habitats in particular act as giant wildlife reservoirs for Europe as a whole.One is the vast extent of ancient forests, some of which are still primeval - meaning they have never been cut down and replanted - and the other is the great range of wetlands in river valleys, flood plains and deltas. The Rospuda valley combines both. The Rospuda river flows through the ancient Augustow Forest near Poland's border with Lithuania, one of the most pristine forest regions in all of Europe; and the river's course is bracketed by a peat bog which is astonishingly rich in mammals, rare birds, plants and insects. http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2359088.ece

    Bulgaria:

    19) Eco activists took to the streets of Sofia, Bulgaria to demand inclusion of Bulgarian areas in the NATURA 2000 Program. Earlier European Green Party (EGP) MEPs sent 17 questions to the European Commission (EC) about the Bulgarian Government's omissions from the list of sites proposed for inclusion in the Natura 2000 ecological network, the Bulgarian Green Party (BGP) said in a media statement on March 1. Natura 2000 is a European network of protected sites which represent areas of the highest value for natural habitats and species of plants and animals which are rare, endangered or vulnerable in the European Community.The World Wildlife Federation (WWF) says that in Bulgaria almost half of the most important sites identified by scientists, including nearly the entire Black Sea coast, have been removed from the list due to "investors" interests. "We expected the government to cut some sites from its list of proposals for the Natura 2000 network, but what remains has been seriously compromised in terms of both quantity and quality," said Vesselina Kavrakova, Bulgaria country manager for the WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme. With its decision, the Bulgarian government has officially introduced "investment interests" as criteria for defining the network. Many local people have expressed their support for Natura 2000 sites in their area, including the town of Assenovgrad in the Rhodope Mountains, the village of Skrino for the Skrino Gorge site and the town of Zemen for the Zemen Gorge site. In January, WWF and NGO partners delivered a petition with 50,000 signatures that called for urgent action to stop illegal construction in protected areas in a number of areas on the Black Sea coast and in the mountains. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OreadDaily/

    Israel:

    20) A shipment of predator wasps arrived in Israel two months ago to take on the gall wasp pests that have been ravaging Israel's eucalyptus trees. The predator wasps have already successfully routed one pest species, Ophelimus maskellis. "We had real concerns about the threat of extinction for Israel's eucalyptus groves," said David Brand, manager of the Jewish National Fund's Department of Forestry and Development. "Fifty percent of the problem has been taken care of now," said Brand, referring to the success with fighting Ophelimus maskellis. JNF researchers plan to have the predators ready for the other pest, Leptocybe invasa, within a year. The recent shipment of predator wasps from Australia is part of this effort, and is currently undergoing testing in Israel. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1173879085888&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

    Ghana:

    21) All the nine forest reserves of Offinso in the Ashanti Region have been depleted due to activities of illegal chainsaw operators. What is speeding the process is desire of operators now to fell immature teak trees planted under the government's plantation programmes to replenish the reserves. These operators, according to the Offinso Forestry Manager, Godfred Kofi Afrifa operate mainly during the night and are armed to the teeth to even put the fear of God into security agencies. Mr. Afrifa told newsmen about the development at the weekend following the seizure of 24 vehicles which were fully loaded with logs, lumber and billets. Among the vehicles were articulated trucks, KIA trucks and long cargo trucks. They were seized within a period of one month between January and February, this year. The Forestry Manager said officials of the division were at risk as the illegal operators had been threatening them. Mr. Afrifa urged the government to ensure stringent measures to stem the use of chainsaw else the plantation programmes would be a mirage. According to him a District Task Force with the support of the police had been formed and last year, succeeded in forwarding 12 cases of illegal operators to the courts after making some arrests. http://www.myjoyonline.com/archives/news/200703/2531.asp

    Ethiopia:

    22) Three pulp mills are to be constructed in Ethiopia jointly with Land and Sea Development- Ethiopia (LSDE), and Chinese and Indian companies. LSDE started undertaking bamboo development in Benshangul-Gumz State with a capital of 136 million dollars on a plot of 393,000 hectares of lease free land. The company has also secured another 50,000 hectares in the state for plantation and harvesting eucalyptus trees. At the official inaugural ceremony of the company’s office at Assosa, Founder and CEO of the company, Dr. E. Druce Fisher told Capital that the company is in final negotiations with a Chinese company MCC International and an Indian company, Andhra Paper Mills Ltd. for the construction of pulp mills in Benshangul-Gumz State and Oromia Regional State. The mills have a capacity of producing 100,000 and 75,000 tons of pulp respectively. The mills are scheduled to come on line in two years and would cost about 360 million dollars, which would be a 50/50 joint venture between LSDE and the other parties. http://nazret.com/blog/index.php?title=ethiopia_three_pulp_mills_are_to_be_cons&more=1&c=1&tb=1
    &pb=1

    South America:

    23) A new study using NASA satellite images found evidence of seasonality in the Amazon rainforest. The results, published in the March 20 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show that the Amazon had 25 percent more leaf coverage in the dry season and 25 percent less in the rainy season. “Our finding is similar to the discovery of a large green continent, nearly a third the size of South America, appearing and disappearing each year,” explained Ranga Myneni, professor of geography and environment at Boston University, the lead author of this study. "This has very important consequences for weather, atmospheric carbon, water and nutrient cycling, given that leaves are the air purifiers and food factories of our planet." The paper indicates that rainforest itself plays an role in initiating the transition from the dry to the wet season. "Rain forests sprout new leaves in anticipation of the coming dry season," stated a release from Boston University. "The greener forests capture more sunlight, absorb more carbon dioxide and evaporate more water during the dry season compared to the wet season... By gradually humidifying the atmosphere, the forests play an integral role in the onset of the wet season." http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0312-amazon.html

    24) While the FAO's Assessment may be better than past forestry data collections, and the confidence level of experts may be high for the data on some or many of the LAC nations, I still have my reservations about LAC entries. For example, just how credible is it that forest cover has not changed even 1,000 hectares over 15 years in Antigua, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the Caymans, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Martinique, Saint Lucia or Suriname? Or that Haiti has only lost 11,000 hectares over that same period (have you seen a satellite image of Haiti lately?). That said, what does the FAO data set for LAC suggest? Let's first look at the subregional breakdown — Caribbean v. Central America v. South America. In absolute area terms, South America showed the largest deforestation by far, 8.053 million hectares lost, 72% of that from Brazil alone. But in percentage terms, the biggest loss was in Central America: percentage loss there in the 1990s was 1.5% per year compared to 0.44% for all of South America, and in the 2000-2005 period, the difference was 1.2% to 0.5%, respectively. This is because the forest cover in South America was so vast to begin with that areas as large as whole American states can disappear and still represent just a percentage point or two.Meanwhile the World Resources Institute (WRI) reportedly is working with some countries to develop a forest mapping tool utilizing satellite imagery to help track illegal logging operations and guide enforcement officials. Currently Brazil is the only LAC nation aggressively using "realtime" high-resolution satellite imaging and its analysis to track deforestation and target its enforcement efforts. http://www.temasactuales.com/temasblog/?p=91

    Jamaica:

    25) In July 2005, Alcoa's Board of Directors approved plans to join with the government of Jamaica to expand the Jamalco alumina refinery in Clarendon. Jamalco is owned 50 percent by the Jamaican government and 50 percent by Alcoa Minerals of Jamaica. Environmental groups say such damage would be irreparable. "Unfortunately for the birds, landscape, and many communities Jamaica is pushing hard to extract every bit of bauxite from her soils to export for aluminum production, “said Susan Koenig of the Cockpit Country Stakeholders Group, a coalition of environmentalists, tourism industry representatives and schools. "The ecological damage wrought by the industry is astounding for a medium sized island," said Koenig. Koenig argues that damaging one of the worlds most important and spectacular karst landscapes to get at the bauxite underneath makes no long-term economic sense. Tourism generates 45 percent of Jamaica's foreign earnings and directly or indirectly provides jobs for around a quarter of the working population she claims, adding that mining employs far fewer people and is not sustainable. The Cockpit Country is in northwestern Jamaica near the tourist resorts of Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. It is about 130 miles (209 kilometers) from the capital city of Kingston. Central Jamaica was once blanketed with wet limestone forests. The 173 square miles (450 square kilometers) of Cockpit Country represent the largest and most intact portion left it is a rugged remote area of western Jamaica that has the world’s most outstanding karst topography – steep-sided hills and deep, round valleys eroded from the limestone bedrock. The wildlife of the Cockpit Country is specially adapted to this unique landscape and numerous species occur here that are endemic, found nowhere else in the world. This is the largest remaining area of intact wet limestone forest in Jamaica and is a refuge for at least 79 of the 100 bird species found in the island, including Jamaica’s two endemic parrot species (the black-billed parrot, the yellow-billed parrot), also the ring-tailed pigeon and the plain pigeon The Cockpit Country is home to perhaps the only viable population of the endemic Giant Swallowtail butterfly; with a wingspan of up to 8 inches (20 cm) it is the largest butterfly in the Americas. http://cockpitcountry.blogspot.com/2007/03/bauxite-mining-poses-major-threat-to.html

    Brazil:

    26) As Ecoagents, our goal is to protect the Amazon Rainforest by educating the aboriginal tribes about their rights & benefits. The tribes of the Amazon are the key to its survival. With this knowledge the tribes do not sign their land away and the Amazon Rainforest is preserved for the future of mankind. We are extremely excited to announce that all proceeds from this March 15th Ecoagents Rainforest Benefit will go to open the 1st Institute of Tribal Rights in the Amazon Rainforest! The Institute of Tribal Rights will be an educational hub and a pivotal point for furthering the preservation of the Amazon, creating a voice for the indigenous people and as well establishing global presence. http://nyc.metblogs.com/archives/2007/03/feeling_generou.phtml

    Peru:

    27) There are wide ranging ecological issues facing the San Martín region. Perhaps the most significant of these is an ongoing drought that is threatening crops and harvests, as well as water supplies in some parts of the region, and could threaten to expand to the whole region. The amount of rainfall in February was significantly lower than the usual. February is traditionally a rainy month. Although it is predicted by the Peruvian government’s meteorological department to end in March, it has been a cause for concern for many people. The authorities assert that the cause of drought is the ongoing destruction of the regions forests. It is estimated that 15 hectares of forest are destroyed every day in the region, and in the previous 36 years, over 1.3 million hectares, or 26.41% of the total forest area were destroyed according to a local ecological and economic study conducted by the ‘Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana’ in 2006. Destruction proceeded at a rate of 40 hectares a day, until the regional government began to take action. These estimates can be considered conservative, more recent media reports claim that up to 1.9 million hectares, in excess of a third of the regions forests have been logged, making San Martín the most deforested region in Peru. Deforestation is increasingly a political issue. Environmental issues in general are widely forgotten by the people and the press, but as they begin to hold consequences for daily lives, the press at least, and the authorities are taking notice, although the issues remain very low in the conscience of the population. In spite of that, in January a new regional president, council and new mayors at almost all levels of regional and local government took office following elections in November 2006. The political party that assumed office in many cases was an independent regional party called ‘Nueva Amazonia’. This party came into office with strong commitments to tackle ecological issues such as deforestation. Whether they will make a difference is yet to be seen. http://greenblog.wordpress.com/2007/03/12/deforestation-in-san-martin/

    China:

    2Cool Despite adaptations to facilitate the consumption of bamboo, its dietary staple, the giant panda still retains the digestive system of its carnivore past and is unable to digest cellulose, a primary component of bamboo. To deal with this problem, the giant panda rapidly passes large quantities of bamboo grass through its digestive tract every day, but as a consequence it can be susceptible to a variety of digestive disorders. Giant pandas are also afflicted by reproductive problems and low birth rates. The female breeds only once a year, for two or three days, and may not mate successfully within that time. The panda’s most serious problems, however, and the ones most responsible for its near extinction, are poaching and deforestation of its natural habitat. Fossils from northern Myanmar (Burma), Vietnam, and much of China as far north as Beijing reveal that the giant panda existed throughout much of eastern Asia during the Pleistocene Epoch (1,800,000 to 10,000 years ago). In modern times, human destruction of its forest habitat has restricted the species to remote mountain areas in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces in China. In addition, periodic mass flowering and die-offs of bamboo have caused starvation for some populations. (Bamboo forests require 5 to 10 years to recover from such events.) The good news is that efforts to save the giant panda, though still at a critical stage, have been meeting with success. Since the 1990s China has greatly expanded its conservation efforts and now regards the giant panda as a national treasure. The country’s reserve system has grown from 14 to more than 40 sites, and it has cooperated internationally to provide training in reserve-management and captive-breeding programs. http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2007/03/saving-the-giant-panda-success-still-not-a
    ssured/

    Thailand:

    29) Thailand may declare an environmental emergency in tourist hotspot Chiang Mai and two other northern provinces after a thick smog blanketed the region, the environment minister said Tuesday. Kasem Snidwong Na Ayuttaya said air quality in three provinces was double the hazardous level after widespread forest fires and farmers setting blazes to clear land. The health ministry said it had already distributed 130,000 masks, with another 170,000 being passed out Tuesday. Kasem said northern army units were working with the forestry department to control the forest fires, which began in late February and have been reported in about 1,340 locations. The fires in northern Thailand, as well as neighbouring Laos and Myanmar, were caused by farmers trying to clear land and by people burning the forest to make scavenging for wild mushrooms easier, Kasem said. All flights from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son town were suspended for the second day running Tuesday because of bad visibility. Other flights in the region were operating as usual. http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Thailand_Considers_Declaring_Emergency_Over_Haze_999.html

    Vietnam:

    30) Interested private investors may have to take part in an ‘informal’ bidding process to build a pulp factory in central Binh Dinh province as a result of limited local land reserved for growing forests. The bidding process is set to happen because a number of private investors are working on independent plans, which will help Vietnam to reduce reliance on foreign imports. In accordance with the local land-use plan, of Binh Dinh’s 400,000 hectares of forests, 60,000ha will be used to grow trees to provide timber for pulp making facilities. “Both proposals of Saigon Invest Group and the Japanese consortium are merely in paper and we hope they have real intentions for their projects. Several foreign investors had studied developing pulp making facilities in Binh Dinh, but no projects were finalised because, as we know, investments in pulp factories are huge,” said the official. http://www.vir.com.vn/Client/VIR/index.asp?url=content.asp&doc=12382

    Sarawak:

    31) The blockade the Penan had erected looked pitiful in the rain, a few bamboo poles strung together across the muddy logging road that cuts through the rainforest near Long Benalih in the upper Baram River region of Malaysian Sarawak, near the Kalimantan border in Borneo. This flimsy structure was never going to stop Samling, with its fleets of bulldozers and trucks, from entering the region. But for almost exactly three years, since February 2004, the barricade had stood at the end of the road, symbolically blocking entry to the last remaining stand of the Penan's ancestral rainforest land. Steadily the loggers have moved east from the Sarawak coast and now they are at the last blockade. In October 1987 the Penan, Kayan and Kelabit communities erected their first barriers, shutting down roads at over 20 sites in the Baram and Limbang river districts, about 100km to the west of the current barrier. About 2500 Penan took part in the eight-month-long protests, enduring harsh conditions and harassment from the logging industry, but maintaining a peaceful campaign. Samling controls a 70km-long road that cuts west through to the latest blockade site at Long Benalih. Loggers fan out from the road to feed the timber jinkers that run non-stop, taking huge trees to the staging post of Lapok on the Tinjar River. Representatives of some tribes have accepted payments for their land along the way but the Penan the original forest nomads have refused any offers. Their last stand is a claim on the 30km by 20km stretch of pristine forest around the Selungo River, covering such settlements such as Long Kerong, Long Benalih and Long Sait. The Penan are widely regarded as having the greatest knowledge of the forest's plants and animals. They recognise more than 100 fruiting trees, 50 medicinal plants and eight blowpipe dart poisons, including one that is far more potent than anything used by any other Borneo tribe. The Penan are known for their ability to fire three darts in quick succession down the pipe, a skill members of the other tribes have not mastered. And in the lower Baram I wouldn't find any forest either. There the loggers had been through, changing the life of the longhouse people forever. It is only in the upper Baram, where the Penan still hold out, that the forest, and a unique lifestyle that goes with it, still survives. http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=environment&story_id=564774&cat
    egory=Environment

    Indonesia:

    32) The Lorentz National Park near Mimika regency, Papua, is under threat from illegal logging, an official of the Mimika Forestry and Agriculture Office said. Benny Renyaan, head of the office's forest resources agency, said in Mimika's capital Timika on Monday that the central government had not paid much attention to the 2.5 million hectare park, which is located in five regencies -- Mimika, Asmat, Yahukimo, Jayawijaya and Puncak Jaya. Renyaan said, based on information from people living near the park, illegal logging was damaging the local ecosystem and threatening endangered wildlife. "The illegal logging is taking place near Fanamo and Omawita villages at the Fareast Mimika district at a time when control from both the administration and security officers is weak," he said. Renyaan urged the government to take stern action against illegal loggers in order to save the park. "The park is known as the conservation center with the most complete varieties of flora and fauna in Indonesia," Renyaan said. Despite the park's natural importance, it still lacks clear-cut boundaries, a management plan and any technical body to manage it, he said. Renyaan said the park was also under the threat from mining by the company Freeport Indonesia, which dumps its tailings in the western part of the park. http://www.thejakartapost.com/misc/PrinterFriendly.asp

    33) More than 85 percent of the world’s supply of palm oil comes from two nations _ Indonesia and Malaysia. The rainforests on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra are ground zero in the dispute over expanding palm plantations. The forests are logged and burned to make way for the plantations, at times producing a thick blanket of smog that can cover parts of Southeast Asia for weeks and release millions of tons of greenhouse gases. The plantations also are moving into peat swamps, which are drained. As the peat dries, it also releases tons of carbon dioxide. The trend is accelerating. Indonesia is already the third-largest producer of carbon dioxide in the world, behind the United States and China. By 2015, an area of Indonesia the size of West Virginia is expected to be covered with palm plantations. “It’s absolutely disingenuous to suggest that biodiesel made from palm oil is green or sustainable,” said David Waskow, international program director for Friends of the Earth. Some 8,000 miles away from Indonesia, on the Washington coast, Imperium’s plant is 60 percent complete and expected to start producing biodiesel in July. The plant eventually will produce 100 million gallons of fuel a year. The company also is constructing or plans similar sized plants in Hawaii, Argentina and an undisclosed site on the East Coast. http://www.savetheorangutan.co.uk/?p=266

    34) Public Prosecutor Kardinal demanded Wednesday the Jambi District Court sentence the director of CV Sengketi Jaya, Salim, to five years in jail for stealing 1,556 logs. Kardinal said the logs in Salim's possession were not accompanied by the appropriate paperwork. Salim, who is head of the branch office of the National Mandate Party, is also facing a fine of Rp 500,000 (US$52.63). "The defendant has taken part in the destruction of the environment," Kardinal said, alleging that Salim violated Article 78 Paragraph 7 of Law No. 41/1999 on forestry. Salim's lawyer Edi Sam rejected the accusation. He said he would give his defense statement on March 22. Other defendants in the same case, Arnoldi and M. Yusuf, are facing five and three years in jail respectively for their alleged involvement in the log thefts. http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20070315.G08&irec=7

    Borneo:

    35) Mongabay.com was born out of a personal experience on the island of Borneo, when a beautiful tract of lowland forest was converted into wood chips for a paper pulp mill. This was not the first time I had lost such a special place, but the loss of that small section of forest in Borneo created the urgency to start writing about wild lands and wildlife. I wanted to share my experiences with those who hadn’t yet witnessed the magnificence of these places. Thus the initial mission of Mongabay was to make people aware of the significance of rainforests and the biodiversity they contain. While they may be hot, bug-ridden, and remote, these forests have a lot to offer. Deforestation is expected to have a significant impact on both global climate and biodiversity. Deforestation currently contributes about one-fifth of greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. Because of deforestation, countries like Brazil and Indonesia are some of the largest emitters of carbon dioxide even though their industrial capacity is not as high as other countries. Indonesia may in some years be the third largest greenhouse gas producer because of deforestation and forest fires. It is unclear when we can expect to see significant impact from climate change in the tropics. Some researchers say 10 years while others say 50. In the Amazon, models indicate that the rainforest is likely to become drier and more susceptible to forest fires. Some of the rainforest may be replaced by savanna. http://journalperu.com/?p=518

    36) Scientists have identified a leopard found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra as a new species of great cat. It's been named the Bornean clouded leopard or Neofelis Diardi. Genetic and skin tests on the creature show it's almost as different from clouded leopards found on the Asian mainland as lions are from tigers. The announcement follows a December report from WWF that dozens of new animal, fish, plant and tree species have recently been found on Borneo. The island is one of the world's last frontiers for biodiversity but under threat from deforestation. http://www.smh.com.au/news/science/spot-the-difference-its-a-new-leopard/2007/03/15/11737226196
    93.html

    Malaysia:

    37) Getting timber to be certified as legally and sustainably harvested is tough in Malaysia. In fact, the process is one of the most rigorous in South-East Asia. Just ask Chew Lye Teng, chief executive officer of the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC). MTCC carries out the process to make sure that timber products are made using logs that have been legally harvested. But it does not stop there. The logs must also come from a forest area which is managed sustainably. He explains that certification is voluntary, but it is also market-driven. This means that if a company wants to sell its products at better pricing, it needs the certification. There are two steps to the process. One is forest management certification: an independent assessment that balances economic value, environmental and social aspects of a forest area. Then, the chain-of-custody certification traces certified plywood, mouldings and wooden furniture back to logs harvested from MTCC-certified forests. Chew said that in MTCC-certified logging concessions, fruit trees and other trees that are important to the indigenous communities are protected from being logged. The indigenous people can move freely to gather sago, rattan, wild fruits, and hunt wild animals which are not on the protected list. http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BT/Monday/Column/BT538452.txt/Article/

    3Cool Forestry Deputy Director General (Planning & Development) Datuk Hj Dahlan Hj Taha told Bernama in a recent interview that available figures point to the fact that Malaysia's forest cover is estimated at 19.5 million hectares or 59.5 percent from the country's total land area. Out of this, 14.4 million hectares have been gazetted as Permanent Reserve Forests managed under the sustainable forest management programme and another 2.15 million hectares have been turned into National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuary. This makes the total forest cover under full protection at 16.5 million hectares.According to Dahlan, the balance of 2.94 million hectares from the total has been set-aside as State Land Forest to be used for agriculture, industries and other uses. Malaysia's forests are referred as tropical rainforests. For management purposes, the forests in Peninsula Malaysia are classified into the Dry Inland Forests or Dipterocarp Forests, Peat Swamp Forests and Mangrove Forests. The Dry Inland Forests are important in terms of the country's economy and ecology as they are often the primary source of the country's timber. It has most of the main timber species and some of them can grow even up to 80 metres tall. Mangrove forests are equally important in terms of conserving and protecting the coastal ecosystem for fishery purposes and act as the first stronghold against tidal waves or tsunami while Peat Swamp Forests produce wood, especially for making firewood and charcoal. Besides the valuable timber, other products that can be harvested from the forest are aromatic oils and resin. News on forest encroachment and illegal logging always receive wide coverage. Besides timber, rampant theft of aloewood has been reported with some even penetrating the Permanent Reserve Forest in the southern part of Peninsula Malaysia. Those involved include foreigners from neighbouring countries. However, Dahlan clarified that most of the news reports aired on television recently did not involve the Permanent Reserve Forest but state land forests and land owned by individuals. "However, to say there are no cases involving Permanent Reserve Forest is incorrect but the situation is under control.” http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=250888


    Australia:

    39) Forestry group Lignor's proposed $300 million timber engineering project has moved a step closer with the signing of a big log supply deal with ITC. Under the contract, ITC will initially supply Lignor with 100,000 tonnes of blue gum logs a year, starting in 2009, for the proposed plant at Albany in Western Australia. Lignor is developing Australia's first stranded timber mill that will use German technology to produce engineered wood products from local hardwood eucalypts and native forest residues. The products will be used in housing and construction, and are expected to compete against steel. Plant output is expected to reach 240,000 cubic metres year by 2011. The contract with ITC will supplement Lignor's existing supply agreements. Great Southern Plantations also has a contract to supply 200,000 tonnes of timber a year to the company. Lignor managing director Glyn Denison said these would be complemented by more contracts with log suppliers in the near future to provide the plant's total requirements. http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/lignor-timber-project-growing/2007/03/13/1173722467814.h
    tml

    World-wide:

    40) Google on Monday added details of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) environmental projects to its popular global online mapping service. The Mountain View, Calif., Internet search powerhouse wove WWF images, information and website links into its Google Earth program. "This joint initiative will allow WWF to spread its conservation message to a vast new audience," said WWF director general James Leape. "People interested in conservation and the environment now will be able to visit WWF projects in some of the worlds most threatened and biologically diverse places from their home computers." Google added 150 projects of Switzerland-based WWF to a showcase of the world's natural wonders, famous haunts, and man-made changes that it debuted in its global mapping service in September of 2006. Google provides the information in "multimedia overlays" that users can trigger while viewing a virtual globe. Icons designate natural wonders, major landmarks or cities, and environmental changes such as deforestation in the Amazon and a shrinking glacier in Iceland. "Were pleased that the WWF has chosen Google Earth as a platform for sharing their incredibly important conservation work," said Google Earth and Maps director John Hanke. http://www.smh.com.au/news/Technology/Google-maps-World-Wildlife-Fund-efforts/2007/03/13/11735
    48132009.html#

    41) An area of forest twice the size of Paris disappears every day although the rate of global deforestation has started to slow, according to a United Nations report issued on Tuesday. "Deforestation continues and it continues at an unacceptable rate, however there are signs of potential change," said Wulf Killmann, a forestry expert at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) which published the report. The destruction of forests not only reduces habitat available for wildlife but also adds to the greenhouse effect because the carbon stored in trees is released into the atmosphere. Deforestation accounts for 18 percent of the carbon dioxide produced each year, a significant proportion of the emissions scientists say are causing global warming which also poses risks to forests via increased fires and the spread of pests. Demand for agricultural land is one of the main reasons that forests continue to be erased at the rate of 13 million hectares a year, an area about the size of England. However, moves by some countries to replant forests has meant the annual net loss has dropped from around 9 million hectares in the 1990s to 7.3 million, according to the "State of the World's Forests 2007" report. A huge tree planting programme in China, for example, more than offset large-scale deforestation in other parts of Asia such as Indonesia, to produce a net increase in the amount of forested land in the Asia-Pacific region during the first five years of the decade. China's economic boom has driven demand for wood and the country has adopted a tree planting policy, not only to reduce its reliance on imported timber, but also for soil protection, especially in areas near the Gobi desert, Killmann said. http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/40837/story.htm

    Sat Mar 17, 2007 5:25 am

  • Genetically Engineered Trees

    Author: trilochankaur

    Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 6:35 am




    Genetic engineering of food crops has been a stealth technology, introduced with little public debate and arriving on grocery shelves unlabeled. Now another application of genetically engineered (GE) agriculture is sneaking up on us - the production of transgenic trees by paper and lumber companies. The possibility that the new genes spliced into GE trees will interfere with natural forests isn't a hypothetical risk but a certainty. During our lives, genetic engineering may do as much damage to forests and wildlife habitat as chain saws and sprawl.

    This is not to say that every application of GE is bad. Sierra Club has taken no positions regarding genetic engineering done in labs or in indoor manufacturing of pharmaceuticals. But common sense should warn us that commercial development of out-of-doors applications in the absence of environmental safeguards is a prescription for disaster. Sierra Club opposes the out-of-doors deployment of genetic technologies because the genes are free - as free as pollen on the wind - to invade nature, and because once this has happened they can't be recalled. The arguments below are not intended to be inclusive but only to illustrate the nature of the problem.

    Corporations, as Milton Friedman pointed out, exist not to be ethical but to make money. And from the standpoint of a forestry company, wildlife habitat has very little value. "Growing the bottom line" is what such companies try to do, and among their strategies are clear cutting and replanting with uniform and fast growing trees (tree plantations). An optimal match between the manufacturing process (cutting lumber and making paper goods) and the inputs can add to profits.

    These companies now see an opportunity to engineer trees which grow faster, contain less lignin, are more uniform in their characteristics, are more resistant to disease and so forth. And unfortunately, if this is the way to make money, this is where corporations are headed. Sierra Club believes that pressure from society in the form of legal prohibitions and restraints, stringent regulations and liability laws, and environmental and consumer activism must be brought to bear in order to hold the industry in check and safeguard the public good.

    We are often told that commercialization of genetically engineered (GE'd) trees is at least several years away. This is also part of the "stealth" referred to above. GE'd stands of papaya trees are yielding commercial crops in Hawaii. The tip of the iceberg is already under our prow, not on the distant horizon. But it is for the traditional forestry industries of paper and lumber making that most research is presently being done. This is also an area which poses the greatest risk to nature.

    The threat of GE'd trees interbreeding with wild trees is extreme. While many agricultural varieties are already quite different from their ancestors of thousands of years ago, this isn't the case with trees. And genetically engineered trees could easily become invasive. Faster growing, limp, low-lignin trees resistant to common pests could easily become a kudzu-like threat, moving into our national parks and forests and changing their character forever.

    Should we object if forestry companies do genetic engineering on their own land? Sierra Club opposes GE'd tree plantations on private land for all the same reasons we oppose other tree plantations. To put it briefly, tree plantations are not forests. This will be even more true of GE'd tree plantations.

    For instance, GE'd pines might be grown without all those "useless" pine cones. They may be herbicide resistant so that competing undergrowth can be eliminated. They may produce their own pesticides so that many of the insects which live in association with trees are poisoned.

    The result, then, may be a silent forest, one which doesn't support chipmunks or snakes at ground level, holds no birdsong in its branches, has no raptors soaring above. Clearly, such a stand of trees is not really a forest. And worse, the damage can't be confined to private property as trees live for many years and can't be closely observed; "birth control" among trees is less reliable than among people and even genetic engineering can't guarantee that a branch won't decide to manufacture pollen. Pine pollen can blow hundreds of miles on the wind.

    Should we oppose genetic "improvements" to trees on public lands? Sierra Club believes that we can't allow the industry to be judged by its hype and that patented genes are not an improvement over nature. We also must avoid only judging what one gene may do, because once hundreds of different fragments of hacked, patented genetic code are allowed access to public lands, the consequences of unintended combinations will be unpredictable. GE trees will also be a danger in other nations, particularly in the underdeveloped world where conditions for effective regulation often don't exist.

    For all of the above reasons, action is needed both at home and internationally to create a worldwide moratorium on the further development and planting of GE trees at least until an effective framework for public debate, unbiased scientific evaluation, and regulation in the public interest - with the goal of preserving biodiversity - can be brought into being.

    If you agree with the above, does this make you a Luddite? This is an unfair characterization by our opponents. Sierra Club does not oppose the use of genetic science in indoor research or medical applications. Our policy about genetic research is that there should be more of it, more of it aimed at answering questions about long term effects on health and the environment, and less of it shielded as "confidential business information" as at present. We believe genetic technology belongs indoors, with containment, not outdoors in fields and forests.

    We would also point out that the United States is using twice as much paper per capita as other highly civilized nations (Europe, Japan). Let us not ask genetic engineering to do what could be accomplished by lower-tech means like putting a surcharge on junk mail.

    Just as there are powerful economic incentives behind logging on public lands, sprawl, and other activities which Sierra Club opposes, there are similar incentives behind genetically engineered sylviculture. Not only are landed property rights and business rights involved, but also the patent rights to genetic code which are now privatizing the genetic heritage of our planet. It is Sierra Club's task, as always, to oppose such interests and to fight for the right of nature to exist for itself, and of future generations to enjoy and be inspired by it.

    Source: Sierra Club
    Fri Mar 16, 2007 6:35 am

  • 182 - Earth's Tree News

    Author: trilochankaur

    Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 5:24 pm



    Today for you 41 news items about Earth’s trees. Location, number and subject listed below. Condensed / abbreviated article is listed further below.

    Can be viewed on the web at http://www.livejournal.com/users/olyecology or
    by sending a blank email message to earthtreenews-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

    --British Columbia: 1) Logging Copley Trail, 2) Popeye's Old-Growth Spinach,
    --Washington: 3) Quadrant Homes is green building
    --Oregon: 4) Timber lobbyist shenanigans
    --California: 5) Giant spray plans, 6) Sierra Forest Products shutdown, 7) Tahoe basin,
    --New Hampshire: Cool History of forest protection
    --Virginia: 9) Horse logging
    --Pennsylvania: 10) No money to be made in selective logging
    --Appalachia: 11) Mountain top removal
    --USA: Congressional activities related to public forestland
    --Canada: 13) Haliburton Forest and Wildlife Reserve Ltd. 14) Highway blockade,
    --UK: 15) non-native species, 16) Project onetree kills ‘em to save ‘em? 17) Old people’s shade must go, 1Cool St. Mary’s Church creates new woodland,
    --Finland: 19) Reindeer Husbandry Act violations?
    --Poland: 20) Save Białowieża Forest,
    --Africa: 21) Mathaii on carbon off-setting and carbon trading
    --Ethiopia: 22) 200,000 hectares of forest lost every year
    --Mozambique: 23) Imposed discipline on forestry operators, 24) 19 million hectares,
    --Kenya: 25) Five mountains in Kenya are forested
    --Congo: 26) Plans to save the forest
    --Guyana: 27) World's largest rainforest protected area, 2Cool retrogression of the forestry,
    --Peru: 29) Mysterious jungle stories and anecdotes
    --Panama: 30) Ecology, Drug Discovery and Conservation
    --Brazil: 31) Selling bottled water to save trees, 32) Selling ringtones to save trees,
    --Pakistan: 33) Dam makes for deforestation
    --China: 34) Reforestation numbers for 2006
    --India: 35) Displacement and relocation issues
    --Thailand: 36) Forest cover was down to 12-18%
    --New Zealand: 37) Prosecution for clearing native forests
    --Philippines: 3Cool Korean group bulldozes farms
    --Borneo: 39) Malaysian logging giant Samling back by UK’s largest bank
    --Australia: 40) Tarra Valley in South Gippsland
    --World-wide: 41) Twenty-first issue of Forest Cover, 42) How to be Wild, 43) climate change and tropical peatlands.

    British Columbia:

    1) The Crown land surrounding the trail is still held in a provincial woodlot licence, and some residents worry about industrial uses trumping recreational values. Because of this, the municipal district submitted a bid to manage the woodlot in 2003, but the Ministry of Forests awarded the woodlot to a private company, Gregson Holdings Ltd., in 2005. The company hasn’t yet filed its management plan for the area. The community wants assurances logging won’t negatively affect the land’s natural values. Dave Gregson, co-owner of Gregson Holdings, declined comment, but Blood said he was encouraged by Gregson’s response when he recently walked the trail with him. “He didn’t think there would be any problem with recreational use there,” Blood said. The municipality wants assurances, and Lantzville council recently passed a motion asking the province to preserve 13 Crown land parcels containing 62 hectares surrounding the trail. Between 100 and 150 people regularly use Copley Trail, but Blood wants more people to know about the area. “If more people in the community are aware of it, there’s more observing it and watchdogging it and more people jumping up and down if the province were to sell off more of the land,” Blood said. “Our group sort of feels this part of the province got short-changed because of the E&N land grants. B.C. is a very park-rich place, except where we live; so any Crown land we’re suggesting should be looked at for park potential, and these have established recreational trails going through them.” http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=51&cat=23&id=850160&more=

    2) Gordon Campbell and BC Liberals to Receive "Popeye's Old-Growth Spinach" to help them grow their Green muscles (like Swartzenegger's) Information pickets/ petition drives outside MLA offices, calling on BC government to end old-growth logging on Vancouver Island and to ban raw log exports. On Monday, the Wilderness Committee will hold a "Green Gift-Giving Ceremony" at petition drives / info pickets outside the constituency offices of Premier Gordon Campbell in Vancouver, MLA Ida Chong in Victoria, and MLA Murray Coell in Sidney, to help the BC Liberal government become truly green. The Wilderness Committee is calling on the BC government to end old-growth logging on Vancouver Island and to ban raw log exports. Protesters will unfurl giant banners and circulate petitions and leaflets to passersby. Gifts will include a giant can of "Popeye's Old-Growth Spinach" to help Campbell and the BC Liberals grow their green muscles like those of Governator Swartzenegger of California; a box of kiwi's, so they can be like the New Zealand government which banned old-growth logging in their country in 2001; and a green heart with an endangered marbled murrelet in it. The Wilderness Committee is calling on the BC government to immediately ban logging in the most endangered old-growth forest types on Vancouver Island and quickly phase-out old-growth logging from the rest of the Island by 2015, with a rapid transition to second-growth logging at a slower, more sustainable rate of cut. Already, almost two-thirds of the logging on Vancouver Island is in second-growth forests. Other jurisdictions, including New Zealand and southwestern Australia, have banned old-growth logging in recent years. A ban on raw log exports would help to protect BC forestry jobs at the same time. The most recent photo analysis based on 2004 LandSat satellite images show that 73% of the original productive old-growth forests of Vancouver Island have been logged, including 90% of the valley bottoms. See maps, statistics, and the petition at: http://www.viforest.org

    Washington:

    3) You heard it hear first, folks: Quadrant Homes is about to receive an award for its "Green Building"... Problem is, the only green they seem to care about has presidents' faces on it. See, wood used in their houses in the Seattle area is unsustainably clearcut and stolen rom the homelands of native people Join us bright and early on Tuesday outside Quadrant's award ceremony to make sure they don't get away with greenwashing. Quadrant Homes is the largest homebuilder in Western Washington. It is a subsidiary of logging giant Weyerhaeuser, which provides wood for Quadrant construction sourced from logging on the traditional lands of the Grassy Narrows First Nation in Canada, without their consent. This indigenous group has supported itself on this land in Ontario, Canada, for thousands of years, hunting, fishing, and gathering berries, rice and medicinal herbs. Now Weyerhaeuser-led logging is threatening this way of life and cutting deep into the Boreal forest, part of the largest intact forest in the world, and known as the 'Amazon of the North' because of its size and many species. The Boreal is also an important buffer against global warming because of the large amount of carbon it stores. On Tuesday, Quadrant is set to receive an award at the 2007 Built Green conference in Everett, Wa. Built Green is a program of the Master Builder's Association of King and Snohomish counties that certifies new homes according to standards that allow even Quadrant's developments to qualify (albeit at the lowest level). But with wood coming from a place like Grassy, Quadrant's homes can never truly be considered green and they certainly shouldn't be receiving an award. http://www.searag.org


    Oregon:

    4) The lobbyists' aim is to assure policymakers that all of Oregon's public forests (nearly 17 million acres) need to be thinned or logged to reduce the frequency and severity of forest fires, while at the same time promoting the fringe benefit of extracting forest biomass as a green and renewable energy source. Here is what the pro-forest biomass people are asking for: contracts for a minimum of 20 years on at least 150,000 acres, with no limits on the size of the trees to be taken. This is being done without soliciting diverse input from grass-roots conservation groups, scientists or the public. The governor, legislators and some larger conservation organizations are planning to give them what they want through legislation and by subsidizing large centralized forest biomass electricity generating plants. Such plants, once built, will have an insatiable appetite for forest biomass. A major guise of the forest biomass extraction argument is thinning the forest, or "backcountry fuels treatments," to protect forest communities and their homes from wildfire. While fire fuels thinning within 100 to 200 feet of homes and structures is necessary in fire-prone ecosystems, sound science does not agree that removing fire fuels beyond 200 feet has any beneficial effect on lessening the occurrences or consequences of wildfire. Scarce financial resources should not be wasted on these "backcountry" fuels treatment projects where they do the least good. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2007/03/08/ed.col.biomass.0308.p1.php?section=opinion


    California:

    5) FREEMONT-WINEMA AND MODOC NATIONAL FOREST HAVE GIANT SPRAY PLANS ON KLAMATH: comments on Freemont Winema due by April 9th The Freemont-Winema National Forest is planning to treat up to 156,000 acres with herbicides such as Chlorsulfuron, Clopyralid, Glyphosate, Imazapic, Imazapyr, Metsulfuron Methyl, Picloram, Sethoxydim, Sulfometuron Methyl, and Triclopyr for noxious weed management. Much of this spray could occur on tributaries to the Klamath River. The Modoc National Forest directly below the Freemont-Winema is also planning a 7,000 acre plus spray plan, in which they are getting ready to make a final decision. Please ask the Forest Service to not spray near the Klamath River, which already has massive chemical use on it's Wildlife Refuges, BLM lands, and private farm and forestry lands. Ask the Forest Service to try the proven non-toxin noxious weed removal methods, such as burning, mulching and manual removal. For Freemont Winema info go to: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/frewin/projects/analyses/2007invasives/
    For the Modoc go to: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/modoc/projects/noxious-weeds/noxious_weed.shtml


    6) TERRA BELLA - The pace of the action was frantic. But it was also misleading. For by June, the Sierra Forest Products mill here may be out of business, stilled by years of dogged environmental opposition that have throttled the flow of national forest timber from the southern Sierra Nevada. If that happens, something more may disappear than the last sawmill south of the Tuolumne River. With it could go the best hope of managing the forest by thinning the dense stands of smaller trees sapping the health from the Sierra Nevada and fueling massive wildfires. “Without a mill, forest management will virtually cease in the southern Sierra,” said Larry Duysen, the mill’s logging superintendent. Two decades ago, more than 120 sawmills peppered California from Yreka to east of Los Angeles. But a steep drop in national forest logging has forced many to shut down. Now only 38 remain and about 8,000 workers have lost their jobs. None is more imperiled than Sierra Forest Products, a four-decade-old facility sandwiched between two orange groves along County Road 234 south of Porterville. Kent Duysen, general manager of Sierra Forest Products and Larry’s brother. “We are encouraging the Forest Service to get geared up. Let’s get ahead of the game.” The Duysens’ chief opponents are environmentalists. “Logging will increase, not decrease, fire risk,” said Ara Marderosian, executive director of Sequoia ForestKeeper. “The time for compromise has ended; these forests are already depleted.” Today, the harvest has plunged 90 percent to 23 million board feet and the Forest Service says its timber program is driven by environmental, not economic, goals.http://sequoiafacts.org/2007/03/11/some-fear-closure-of-terra-bella-sawmill-could-lead-to
    -massive-wildfires.aspx


    7) Fire and timber harvests are the most influential factors affecting land coverage in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, with stringent controls on the Lake Tahoe Basin making it the exception, according to a study recently released by the U.S. Geological Survey. Researchers looked at detailed aerial photographs of the entire range from 1973 to 2000 to determine how land has been disturbed in the region. Landscape disturbance from fire was the dominant change from 1973-2000, according to the study. "The second most common change was forest disturbance resulting from harvest of timber resources by way of clear-cutting," the study suggests, and that "relatively minor landscape changes were caused by new development." Timber harvests and wildfire have long been suppressed in the basin, according to Rex Norman, spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. He said that tight land use controls have seen the basin "bucking the trend that is going on in many other parts of the Sierra Nevada." Results of the study concur with Norman's assessment when the report says that development in the basin after 1969 "has greatly slowed due to the constraints of increased public ownership through intensive state and Federal land acquisition programs, as well as stringent regulations on new development aimed at alleviating adverse environmental impacts in the Lake Tahoe Basin." Regulations like the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's land capability system, which limits land coverage to 30 percent on parcels most apt for development, can claim some responsibility for the slow down in development and alleviation of environmental impacts, according to the TRPA. http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20070309/NEWS/103090063

    New Hampshire:

    Cool Ernest Russell wrote scathingly about one operation in the May 1909 issue of Colliers:
    Between 600 and 700 men are at work there (west of North Woodstock in the Lost River Area) as I write, butchering the beautiful forest of that valley and doing the most reckless lumbering I have ever seen in the mountains. Do not lay this at (J.E.) Henry’s door but at the door of the great paper company (Publishers) that sold the stumpage of that 30,000 acre tract to a worse than ignorant contractor. On the plus side, public outrage over the devastation led to conservation alliances and efforts, such as the creation of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests and the adoption of the New Hampshire Wilderness Act of 1984, protecting 77,000 acres in the White Mountains. Without the Weeks Act of 1911, which “authorized the use of public monies for the purchase of privately owned timberlands,” there would be no White Mountain National Forest. http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070311/COLUMNISTS45/203110328/-1/
    opinion

    Virginia:

    9) FERRUM -- Wedge and Tong leaned into their harness. Much more experienced than their driver, the pair of Suffolk draft horses responded to his soft, insistent commands and pulled him, the homemade cart he sat on and 230 board feet of eastern white pine up the slope with short, powerful strides. Conventional logging is all about managing resources. That, Snider said, suggests an external puppeteer manipulating the forest. Snider, on the other hand, speaks of being an "ecosystem participant." A graduate student at Appalachian State University, Snider said he draws inspiration from the Chipko movement in the Garhwal section of India. The movement -- "chipko" translates as "embrace" -- is the origin of the term "tree hugger." By some accounts, this movement for local control of natural resources is well over 200 years old, but its most famous moments came in the 1970s. When the government gave logging rights to outside interests, people -- mostly women and children -- surrounded the trees to prevent their harvest. The point of the movement wasn't to stop logging. It was to stop logging without consideration of long-term effects and without giving local people a stake. "They don't see themselves as separate from the natural world," Snider said. "They see themselves as part of it." Jason Rutledge readily admits that his method of logging doesn't offer the best short-term return for the logger or the landowner. But it offers other rewards -- and it extends the return over many years. A clear cut brings in the most money at one time, but it erases the forest for decades. "If you owned a bank," Jason Rutledge said, "why would you rob it?" He wants landowners to think of woodlands as a stock portfolio. Clear-cutting is liquidating. Cutting the best trees and leaving the weakest is like selling your blue chip stocks and investing in low performers. The forest is principal, he said. What you cut is interest. http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/wb/wb/xp-108133

    Pennsylvania:

    10) A few years ago, Bethlehem Authority members talked about making $5 million by logging trees from the authority's land in Monroe County. Now, after shifting their strategy away from logging for profit to selective cutting as a way to restore health to their sick forest, they're just hoping they can afford to do it. In 2006, the authority paid consultant Don Oaks $60,000 ? about triple what it budgeted ? while yielding just $27,000 from the sale of trees. ''We like the job Mr. Oaks is doing, and we're not looking to go anywhere else,'' authority Chairman Richard Master said last week. ''We'd just like to see a little more efficiency.'' The authority could begin breaking even this year, but Oaks said profits are not the focus. ''Their strategy is forest maintenance and health,'' Oaks said. ''There will be a point where the revenues will move ahead of costs, but this is never going to make enough money to matter. It's not going to fix their financial problems.'' Saddled with $125 million in debt from building the Penn Forest Dam, the authority faces raising water rates if it can't generate money to reduce some of that debt. Members once thought logging the authority's 23,000 acres, part of the Lehigh River watershed, would help do that. http://www.mcall.com/news/local/bethlehem/all-b1_4loggingmar12,0,5530675.story?coll=all-newsloc
    albethlehem-hed


    Appalachia:

    11) The first time I flew over southern West Virginia and saw mountaintop removal coal mining from the air, I knew that if everyone in America could see what I had seen - mountain after mountain blown up and then dumped on top of streams in the neighboring valleys - they would be shocked at the massive scale of devastation, and would think twice about where their electricity came from the next time they flipped a light switch. Today, millions of people around the world will learn about our efforts to stop mountaintop removal coal mining for the first time when Google releases its latest featured content for "Google Earth" to 200 million users -- and highlights the National Memorial for the Mountains as part of the new featured content. To coincide with the new release, we've updated the National Memorial for the Mountains with more detailed photos, graphics and information about the damage done to our mountains by mountaintop removal coal mining. New features include a mine site tour, improved memorials that tell first-hand stories of destroyed mountains, and high resolution before-and-after images. Check out the updated Memorial -- and help spread the word to your friends and family. http://www.ilovemountains.org/memorial

    USA:

    12) February was a busy month on Capitol Hill for the forest community with Congress focusing mainly on the President's Fiscal Year 2008 Budget request for the Forest Service. The Forest Service budget allocation is critical because it defines the agency's priorities and drives all activities - from campsite maintenance and timber sales to oil and gas drilling. The Bush Administration's Forest Service budget for FY 2008 is $4.6 billion versus $4.9 in FY 20061. The President's budget would increase logging levels by 67%, decrease the recreation program by 10.6% while proposing to increase user fees, close campgrounds, and decrease funding for wildlife and fish habitat by 10.7%. Considerable discussion in the hearings focused on wildfire costs, which topped the $1.5 billion mark and now account for 45% of the Forest Service budget versus 13% in 1991. In the forest conservation context, the following hearings were noteworthy: 1) the House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies held an oversight hearing on the President's FY 2008 Forest Service budget request, 2) the House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, held an oversight hearing of the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management's FY 2008 budget request, 3) the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held an oversight hearing of the Forest Service FY 2008 budget, 4) the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests held a hearing on S.380, to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000. http://www.americanlands.org

    Canada:

    13) Demonstrating their commitment to protecting the environment, Haliburton Forest and Wildlife Reserve Ltd. (www.haliburtonforest.com) in Ontario, Canada is hosting a Wood Biomass for Energy Conference on May 11, 2007. Partnering with the Haliburton Highlands Stewardship Council and the Haliburton County Development Corporation (www.haliburtoncdc.ca), they will be presenting to the public the latest research on wood biomass and its potential to convert wood waste into carbon-neutral energy. In this day-long event, participants will obtain an overview of the topic with up-to-date information and experiences. Guest speakers will include wood scientists, ecologists, and experts from a variety of related fields. The wood energy experts will provide an overview of all the latest developments in Europe, ecologists will address environmental concerns, and specialists will be presenting case studies. http://www.openpr.com/news/16748/Haliburton-Forest-Hosts-Canadian-Conference-on-Wood-Biomass-an
    d-Its-Environmental-Impact.html

    14) GRAND-REMOUS - An aboriginal group blocked off a Quebec highway on Monday to protest logging activity. Quebec provincial police said about 50 people set up the blockade around 5:30 a.m. on Highway 117, north of Ottawa. The protesters say the Quebec government reneged on a verbal agreement that ended earlier protests. Spokesman Guillaume Carle said the province has not allowed local off-reserve aboriginals to log in the region, as agreed. "The protest is about the government of Quebec, the Liberals, lying to us," Carle said in an interview as he drove to the protest site. Two vans, a piece of heavy equipment, barrels and logs have been set up on the highway, the only route between the Laurentian and Abitibi-Temiscamingue regions of Quebec. Carle said the province allowed rampant clear-cut logging in the region for four years but local aboriginals were not included in either the planning or the economic benefit. "We're being robbed," he said. He said protesters are also upset about living conditions for local aboriginals who live off reserves. "No electricity, no heat, no water," he said. "The conditions are unacceptable." Last month, the protesters picketed the office of the Quebec minister of natural resources. Carle said the group wants rights to logging in the region as well as a say in overall forestry planing. http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=462f4508-e880-4987-bc44-4fa782427391&
    k=82853

    UK:

    15) The rhododendron is one of at least 988 "invasive non-native species" in Scotland - unwelcome plants, worms, crustaceans, mammals and birds that scientists increasingly fear are threatening our ecosystem and even our economy. For years, a ragtag alliance of wildlife groups, gardeners, birdwatchers, anglers and concerned locals have fought the invasion as best they can, trapping, shooting and uprooting the invaders in an effort to preserve the natural order of things. But resistance has been piecemeal, with no central leadership and only limited support from government, and no clear plan or policy to help. Now, though, that could be about to change. The Westminster government and the Scottish Executive are discussing a new UK-wide strategy that could result in renewed efforts to curtail the spread of harmful species or even eradicate them outright. "The Invasive Non-Native Species Framework Strategy for Great Britain", a draft plan that has been circulated among government officials and ecology campaigners, outlines "a more preventative approach" towards the newcomers. Effectively declaring war on non-native species, the strategy declares: "We should be guided by the principle that, where it is shown beyond reasonable doubt that a non-native species is having or is likely to have a substantial negative ecological, social or economic impact, and eradication or control measures are technically and financially feasible, acceptably humane and safe for people and native wildlife populations, then such eradication or control measures should be instigated." http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=381022007

    16) A group of environmentalists gathered beside an oak tree on a cold damp November morning in Cheshire's Tatton Park a few years back. They were there to launch a project they were calling "onetree", through which a 170-year-old oak, in an area of woodland grazed by red deer, would be felled and its parts distributed to demonstrate how every one - right down to the leaves and sawdust - had a value to craftspeople, furniture-makers and artists. The results took time to materialise - after milling, the oak needed months of aeration - but it was worth the wait. A superb exhibition of products included such items as furniture, paper, leather (tanned in oak-bark liquor) and bacon (using sawdust to smoke the hams). Perhaps because the exhibition did not reach London (it travelled to Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden and Nottinghamshire's Harley Gallery after Tatton), onetree commanded little national attention in the UK. But The New York Times saw the point. The exhibits, it said, spoke of "a confidence in British craftsmanship which inspires the viewer to think about their attitudes to the natural world.” And that might have been that for the two British furnit